Picnic
by Black Knight 03
Summary: On the last weekend of summer vacation, Lizzie faces Gordo for the first time since coming back from Rome. One-shot LG


Disclaimer – Disney owns Lizzie McGuire.

A/N – _"Thoughts" _

Lizzie stood in her bedroom looking at her reflection in her vanity mirror. The Saturday before school was to start, the McGuires were having a barbeque and had invited the Sanchezs, Gordons, and Matt's friends.

After her stunt in Rome, Lizzie had been grounded the rest of the summer. While she was looking forward to her final hours of summer freedom, she was dreading facing him. She didn't know what to say to him on top of the fact that they hadn't said anything about the kiss. _"Not that we had much time,"_ she thought sarcastically. They had left the day after and once they got home, she immediately went into lockdown.

Sighing, she looked at her reflection. This was her eighth outfit she had tried on, but nothing seemed to look right. _"I need the perfect outfit."_ As she pulled her long blonde hair into different styles, someone knocked on her door.

"Come in," Lizzie called as she pulled hair into high ponytail.

"Hey chica!" Miranda said as she entered the room.

"Miranda!" Lizzie whirled around and excitedly hugged her best friend. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too. So how was Rome Ms. Pop Star?" she teased.

Grinning a little, "It was alright."

"Alright?" Miranda asked in disbelief. Then she noticed Lizzie's smile falter, "You ok?"

"How much has Gordo told you?"

"Most of it. The jerk Paolo, how he found Isabella in the airport, the IMVAs."

"Did he tell you I ruined his trip?" Lizzie said. When Miranda gave her a questioning look, Lizzie explained, "I made this big deal about us hanging out together and then I blow him off for the first cute guy that pays me a compliment. God, I'm shallow."

"Liz, you're not shallow just a little misguided. Apologize and I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"Its not that. He…He likes me, as more than a friend," Lizzie said and then looked down at the ground, "Or at least he did."

"How'd you find out?"

Whipping her head up surprised, "You knew?" When Miranda nodded, Lizzie started to pace, "Why didn't you tell me?" she practically shouted at her.

"Cause Gordo is my best friend too and I promised him I wouldn't. Besides, I didn't think it take you this long to figure it out. He wasn't exactly subtle," Miranda told her. Lizzie sighed as she sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. "How did you find out?"

"Remember Ethan's Murder Mystery Party and how I told you Gordo won." Miranda nodded. "I didn't tell you that I threw the game. I let him win. I found the last clue and then Kate told me that Gordo had a crush on me. It completely threw me and at first I didn't want to believe it but as I looked at him, things started falling into place. Looks he gave me, the way he'd talk to me, act around me. So I threw the game, named the wrong person and let Gordo win. Afterwards, things just started snowballing," Lizzie said as she rubbed her forehead.

Miranda sat down next to her, "So what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know," Lizzie mumbled. "I'm gonna have to at least talk to him about the kiss."

"Kiss?" Miranda asked excitedly. "You kissed him?"

Nodding her head, "We were on the rooftop of the hotel, looking out at the view and talking. He had been really sweet and I treated him like crap, as usual. And it just sorta happened."

After blowing out a long breath, "Let me ask you this, do you like him?"

"I," Lizzie started but stopped and thought about it for moment. Turning towards Miranda, "Yea." she said slowly. Running a hand through her hair, "What the hell am I going to do?" she whined and fell backwards onto her bed.

"Girls!" Mrs. McGuire yelled up from downstairs. "Gordo's here. He's out back."

When Lizzie groaned again, Miranda snickered. Patting her leg, "Come on. You can't hide from him forever."

"I can try," Lizzie mumbled as she stood up. Looking down at her outfit, which consisted of a pink tank top with spaghetti straps and a pair of short, cream colored shorts. "What do you think of my outfit?" she asked self-consciously.

Rolling her eyes, "You look fine," she reassured her. "Now come on," Miranda said as she walked to the door. Lizzie grunted as she put on a pair of flip-flops.

Walking outside, Lizzie froze on the deck as she saw Gordo standing a few feet away. Miranda grabbed her arm and pulled her over to him. "Hey goofball." Miranda joked.

"Hey," Gordo said with a grin and then seeing Lizzie, his grin turned into a small smile, "Hey Lizzie."

"Hi," she said quickly as she avoided eye contact. Miranda bit her lip as she tried not to snicker. "So, Miranda, you never told me how Mexico was." Miranda had returned from visiting family in Mexico shortly after they had returned from Rome. While Gordo and Miranda had hung out for the past month and a half, Lizzie had been grounded.

Miranda smirked at her, _"Ok. I'll bail you out this time."_ Walking over to the picnic table on the deck, Miranda and Gordo sat next to each other and Lizzie on the other side. As she talked about her trip, Miranda noticed that Lizzie kept glancing at Gordo. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Miranda stopped telling them about Mexico. "I'm gonna go get a soda, you guys want one?"

"Yea," Gordo said.

Lizzie started to get up, "I'll help you."

"With soda?" she asked sarcastically. "I think I can handle it myself," Miranda said with a smirk before walking back into the kitchen.

"So," Lizzie started nervously as she looked down at table. "Uh, how's the rest of your summer been?"

"Pretty good. Basically me and Miranda have just been hanging around; movies, rollerblading, Digital Bean." Gordo looked across the table at her, "How's lock down been?"

Squirming a little under his gaze, "It sucks but I deserved it." Tracing patterns into the tabletop with her finger, "I'm sorry about ruining your trip." she mumbled softly. Lizzie couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes; out of everyone, disappointing Gordo, was the worst.

"Its alright," he said.

"But,"

"Liz, don't worry about it." Glancing towards the kitchen, "I'm gonna go check on the sodas. I'll be right back."

Watching him walk into the house, Lizzie dropped her head onto the picnic table. "Stupid, stupid," she said as she banged her forehead against the table.

As Gordo walked into the kitchen, he found Miranda at the counter shifting through a bowl of mixed nuts, picking out the cashews. Smirking, he guessed when Miranda hadn't come back right away, she had set them up to give them some alone time.

"You know she's trying to apologize," Miranda said as she grabbed another cashew and he put his head in the fridge. "You're not making it easy for her."

Grabbing a soda can, "Why should I? She's lucky I'm still her friend," Gordo snarled.

Miranda watched stunned at his outburst. "She really hurt you, didn't she?" she said as she turned around and leaned back against counter. "I know you almost as well as Liz does. For as much as she hurt you, you still like her." She then smirked, "And knowing how your mind works, it's driving you crazy."

"Sanchez," Gordo warned.

"Just talk to her. You know her, she's beating herself up about this." Pausing she glanced outside to make sure Liz was still out back and then turned back to Gordo. "She likes you Gordo. But like you, she's scarred to admit those feelings, especially when she thinks your upset with her. Besides, you haven't even admitted them to her yourself."

Gordo sighed and scratched the back of his head. "So what should I do?" he asked her.

"Talk to her," Miranda said and then grabbed two sodas from the fridge and walked outside.

Popping the top of his soda, he took a sip as he watched Miranda talk to Lizzie. _"Talk to her."_ Miranda's words echoed in his head. "Wish it was only that easy," he mumbled under his breath.

Sighing to himself, he slowly walked outside. He quietly walked up behind Lizzie and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Resisting the urge to grin when he felt her jump slightly, he kept his face emotionless when Lizzie looked up at him. "I wanna talk."

"O…ok." Lizzie stuttered and slowly stood up.

Miranda watched them walk inside with a smirk, _"If those two chicken out again, I swear I'm going to beat them senseless."_

Lizzie led them upstairs to her room, so they could have some privacy. Shutting the door behind her, "So what do you want to talk about?"

Gordo looked at her for a moment and then it just came out. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he yelled at her. Lizzie flinched but didn't say anything and just stood there, preparing to face the rest of his tirade.

"Do you know how much crap I've taken from you over the years, much less this year? I'm sick of it. You're the one who made me sign up for that stupid trip and made this big deal about having an adventure together but the first chance you blow me off for some jackass. Than, cause I've got to be insane, I cover for you and get kicked off the trip. Than, not only do I find Isabella and bring her to the IMVAs, you won't believe me, someone you've known your whole life, but someone you've just met."

By now, Gordo was pacing around the room, snarling. Lizzie just watched him, knowing she deserved this and was surprised it hadn't happened when they first saw each other.

"Do you know how it makes me feel when you two ramble on about how hot some guy is? Or listen to you whine about how some idiot doesn't notice you? Well, guess what, I notice you but I guess I'm not good enough."

Lizzie sighed, "I know you notice me and you're too good for me."

"What?" he asked, coming to a dead stop and looked at her confused.

"Kate told me you had a crush on me at the Murder Mystery party," and she was about to tell that she was scarred and confused, but Gordo cut her off.

"You knew?" Gordo snarled. "How could…Why would…If you…" He tried to speak but he didn't now where to even start and his temper was blinding his judgment.

Lizzie watched Gordo start pacing again and stumble over his words. For the first time in her life, she was scarred of Gordo. Not so much that he'd physically do something to her, but what he might say.

"Gordo!" she yelled, stopping him again and he looked at her. "I'm sorry, alright. When Kate told me, I was scarred. You're my best friend; you're closer to me than anyone. If I lost that, I don't know what I do. Paolo was a mistake, a stupid mistake. I never want to hurt you, ever." She paused for a moment, taking a deep shaky breath; she summoned the courage she needed to continue, "On the rooftop in Rome, I finally figured it out. I finally figured out what's been in front of me the whole time. That's why I kissed you. The night, on the rooftop, I realized it. I like you. I really like you."

Lizzie slowly walked to her closest and pulled out a package. "I got you something. I know its not enough but I hope it's a start." She held the package out to him, hoping he'd take it.

Sighing softly, he took the package. Tossing the top onto the bed, he pushed aside the tissue paper and found a folded shirt. With a confused look etched on his face, he picked out of the box and tossed the other half of the box next to the top. Holding the shirt by the shoulders he unfolded it so he was looking at the back. As it unfolded, a look of surprise passed quickly over his face and then tried to fight a grin tugged at his lips.

"I had it made for you. I am gonna try my hardest never to take you for granted again."

"Gordon Garbage Company," he read from the back of the shirt with a grin and a small chuckle. On the front, was a David name patch and on the back was an oval patch with the words Gordo had just said circling around a garbage truck. As he looked at the shirt, he immediately remembered the seventh grade social studies project when they were pretending to be married.

"Gordo?" Lizzie asked softly.

Draping it over his arm, "Why can't I stay mad at you?" he asked rhetorically. "You drive me crazy, you treat me like a doormat, but I can't stay mad at you," Gordo said, the frustration in his voice.

Taking a tentative step towards him, "I kinda now how you feel. I can never stay mad at you for long. Remember when you were tutoring Ethan and you said I wasn't smart enough to tutor him. It hurt but I couldn't stay really mad for more than like a few hours." Lizzie looked into his eyes, "The past few weeks have given me a lot of time to think, especially about us."

Tentatively taking Gordo's hand, she lead him over to the small love seat that was in her room, it was just big enough for two adults. Draping the shirt over the back of it, Gordo sat down next to her. Lizzie shifted so she was sitting facing him.

"I never really realized how good I had it with you. I took you for granted and I'm sorry. I…I promise, I'll never do it again."

"Liz," Gordo said softly, "Don't make promises you know you can't keep."

"Ok." Lizzie bit her lip and thought for a moment. "How about, I promise to try and not take you for granted again." Gordo smirked at her and nodded in agreement. For a few minutes, they just sat there in silence.

Lizzie looked at him and grinned, "Gordo," she called softly. When he was looking, "The night on the porch after the Murder Mystery party, if my dad hadn't interrupted us, would you have asked me out?"

His face instantly turned three shades of red and he opened his mouth to say something but nothing would come out except a few inaudible sounds. Lizzie giggled and her smile widened. Gordo shyly looked down at the ground, "Yea, I was trying to ask you out."

"Wanna try again?"

Gordo looked up at her and smirked. "There's an old movie festival downtown next weekend, would you like to go with me?"

"Yea, sounds like fun." she answered softly.

"Lizzie, Gordo! We're getting ready to eat down here!" Mrs. McGuire yelled, interrupting them.

Gordo snickered as Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Ok mom! We'll be down in a minute!"

Standing up, they both slowly walked over to the door. Pausing for a moment in the doorway, without saying anything, she leaned in and kissed him. While it was a simple kiss, this one was a little longer than the one they shared in Rome. Breaking apart, they grinned at each other.

After a moment, "Forgot my shirt," Gordo said as he glanced back into her room.

"Leave it. I wanna wear it Monday," she told him with a sly grin.

Gordo gave her a lopsided grin and shook his head. Taking her hand, "Come on, we better get downstairs before Miranda eats everything."

Lizzie tightened her grip on Gordo's hand and smiled to herself as they walked down the stairs. "What do you think they'll say?" Lizzie asked, referring to their families and friends that were out back.

"Probably told you so." Gordo told her with a smirk and Lizzie laughed. "Still wanna go through with it?"

Lizzie pulled him into a hug and kissed him lightly, "I'd like to see you try and get rid of me." Grinning, they let go of each other and walked outside to face the music.


End file.
